


in dreams

by maelerie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Universe, Dreams and Nightmares, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 13:42:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5628667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maelerie/pseuds/maelerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was something about this nigthmare that made Obi-Wan uneasy. Was it really just a bad dream, or something more?</p>
            </blockquote>





	in dreams

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a prompt (from a writing prompt list that I created myself) I received on Tumblr. The prompt reads: Anakin and Obi-Wan with "My nightmares are usually about losing you."

He stood in front of a brass set of doors that towered high above him, touching the stars, and when he pushed them open, straining his muscles with the effort, it revealed the world consumed by darkness and flame. 

His breath stops and he feels the fear, the failure, the helplessness as everything in front of him unfolds into chaos, carnage and disaster. He tries to move forward, tries to help, but his body does not move, freezes, as he watches how this onrushing tidal wave of death and destruction destroys everything he holds close to his heart.

He sees his old master, Qui-Gon Jinn, dying in front of his eyes once more. He sees an army of clones gripped in the inescapable, destructive force of war. He sees master Yoda, master Windu lying lifeless on the floor. He sees Queen Amidala, Padmé, consumed by grief, wilting away like a dying flower. And he sees a silhouette clouded in darkness, calling to him in a rasping voice, to help him, to understand him, to save him, to join him, to forgive him, to kill him, to fear him.

And as the lava reaches his feet he has the feeling, the cold stabbing feeling that he knows who this silhouette belongs to.

_'No.'_

"Master? Master?" A voice echoed through the air, and Obi-Wan could feel himself resurfacing from sleep with a gasp for air.

"Master?" The voice sounded more real this time and much closer. "Master, it's all right. It was just a nightmare."

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and his vision blurred together slowly until he could make out the face of his young Padawan seemingly floating above him, a look of concern wrought into his features.

It took him a few moments longer to realize he was lying in his bed, that he was on Coruscant, and that Anakin's head wasn't floating, he was just leaning over him, looking down, most likely aroused from sleep by sensing his master's distress.

Obi-Wan felt very self-conscious indeed, losing control over his dreams, and having Anakin to shake him awake. "I'm sorry Anakin. Everything is fine, go back to bed."

He didn't understand why exactly, but he wanted to be alone. Something about the situation he found himself in seemed almost... foreboding. The sweat trickled down his brow as he remembered the last thing he had seen before waking up. The hooded figure, twisted and evil, residing, no doubt, on the far end of the Dark Sight. And the next moment, the moment he wakes, he sees the face of the Chosen One, the one to bring balance to the Force, the far end of the Light. It should have felt like a complete opposite to him, like a cold, refreshing splash of water in the face, like stepping outside on a cloudy day and having the sun suddenly shine through the clouds. But it didn't feel like that at all, and that scared him more than any of the images the nightmare had shown him.

Instead of obeying his Master's command, however, Anakin sat himself on the edge of Obi-Wan's bed. "Another bad dream, Master?" he cocked his head, almost teasing.

Obi-Wan grunted in response, still not entirely in the present, desperately trying to control his heightened senses and the growing doubt in his mind. "Not even a Jedi is spared those, my young Apprentice."

Anakin's smile faded. "I know," he sounded like the young boy he had once been, back on the desert-planet of Tatooine. "I have them too."

Obi-Wan's initial instincts faltered, and instead of having Anakin leave his room, he felt compelled to comfort him. He was still very young, after all, even if his cockiness could sometimes suggest otherwise, and he had no more mother to console him, nor a father. Just like other Force-sensitive Younglings, Obi-Wan had said goodbye to his family to become a Jedi. It was a sacrifice all of them had to make, but it was made bearable by the parental-like relationships they forged with their Masters. Obi-Wan had always seen his Master, Qui-Gon, as the strong father-like figure in his life as a Padawan, and he hoped Anakin felt the same way, or would come to feel the same way about him. 

"You look troubled Anakin," Obi-Wan said, "are these bad dreams of yours frequent?"

Anakin was lost in thought for a moment, his face unreadable. "About as frequent as yours, Master," he said eventually, with a hint of lighthearted teasing to it once more.

Obi-Wan sighed, very much aware by now that even though Anakin was a very talented student and that he undoubtedly would become a very powerful Jedi, Chosen One or not, it was a challenge to make him see the seriousness of certain situations.

"What are they about?" he asked, just to be sure his Padawan didn't want to lift some of his burdens onto him.

Anakin shrugged. "Mostly about my mother and how I will probably never see her again."

He tried to make it sound as if these dreams meant nothing to him, but Obi-Wan could see by his downcast gaze that this was not true. He wanted to ask about it further, but Anakin beat him to it.

"What are yours about?"

Now it was Obi-wan's turn to look away and stare to a spot somewhere on the wall. He had no idea what these dreams were about, so how could he ever explain them to someone else? These dreams, these nightmares, they were always different but they always left him with the same underlying fear of the future.  
He sometimes caught himself dwelling on these dreams for too long, because they consisted of feelings too heavy to simply cast aside, and it always lefts him exhausted. 

"My nightmares are usually about losing you," he heard himself say, and it's not that he didn't mean what he just said, he just never thought he would put it out there.

He's still conscious enough to leave out the words he would have uttered in afterthought, and only thinks them,

_'my nightmares are usually about losing you,... to the dark side.'_

Not aware if his Master's inner monologue, Anakin's head shot up in surprise at this confession and he regarded Obi-Wan curiously, head tilted, as if trying to figure out if he was joking or... no, he was not, he can see that, but, just like Obi-Wan expected, the conversation had turned too serious for his young Apprentice and he waved his Master's concerns away with a laugh. 

"You won't lose me, Master," Anakin said. "You underestimate my abilities. I will not be taken down easily."

Despite the festering feeling of dread that had has heart anchored in place, Obi-wan could not stop himself from rolling his eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Your pride will get you into trouble more times than not, Anakin Skywalker, I hope you realize that."

He had said it lightly, but Obi-Wan meant what he had said. The boy still had much to learn and Obi-Wan knew exactly what he would be learning in the next couple of days. A new form of training. He said as much to Anakin and the latter stood up from the bed, excitement in his eyes.

"What sort of training?" he asked eagerly.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile for real this time. "A training in 'modesty', my young Padawan. I have a feeling you will be much aided with it."

Anakin's face fell, not pleased in the least with these prospects. "I wanted to do some more saber-training, Master," he practically whined, and Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows.

"What you want and what you need are two very different things, Anakin."

Obi-Wan's voice had a certain finality to it, and his Apprentice heard it. He complied to his Master's request to go back to his room and sleep with a half-mumbled, "Yes, Master." and strode out of the room. He did not at all look forward to his next few lessons, Obi-Wan had no doubt, seeing as he barely tried to hide his reluctance, but the Jedi decided, hoped, it would do him some good. 

Even if their conversation had ended on a light note, and Anakin had been successful in making his Master forget about what had woken him in the first place, Obi-Wan, now alone again with his thoughts, felt the nightmare seeping back into his mind. The remainder of the night he tried to assure himself that it had been just that: a bad dream, a nightmare. Deep down, however, he knew it wasn't so. It was not uncommon for Jedi to see glimpses of the future, and Obi-Wan could not shake away the feeling that his nightmares were exactly that.

He hoped he was wrong, but he knew that he wasn't.


End file.
